Controversy Loves Company
by Riley Doran
Summary: A controversial class takes a wrong turn.
1. Chapter 1

"Oh please, the diversity committee is a load of crap!" The first words spoken as my first day as a teacher echoed in the classroom as I stepped in.

"Yeah? Why is that, huh?" A big African American girl spun around in her seat. I had to break in and take contol of my students. I set my briefcase on the desk with an intentionally loud thud.

"My name is Joshua Braunstein. I am your new teacher. Please take your seats." I wanted to seem like I knew what I was dong but I didn't want the students to hate me. Nor did I want them to get too casual with me.

"Joe? Can I call you Joe? Ok, so Joe, I didn't really sign up for this class. I'll see ya around." A young man siting in the very back rose from his seat and proceeded to leave the room. I decided that from then on I would make the class so interesting that he would be begging to come back.

"Mr. braunstein?" A small vopice came up from the table directly in front of the classroom.

"Yes?"

"My name is Annie. What exactly is this class about?"

"Well," I left the back of my desk and addressed the entire class,"We will be mostly discussing issues of race, class, and gender in our society." A low grumble filled the room. "Oh c'mon guys! This could be fun. Listen, I know I'm new here buti believe you all have the potential to succeed. Expect that you can be mature in this class and if not, please feel free to leave now." I waited to see if anyone wanted to leave. I guessed I causght their attention. "From now on we have a pact. Nothing said in the room leaves this room. Not one word. Agreed?" I looked around the room and everyone nodded.

"So this is gonna be a controversial class?" A young man sitting next to Annie asked.

"Uh, you could say that. We _will_ be discussing some pretty rough topics and that's why I expect you all to be mature, and also aware of everybody's feelings." They seemed pretty interested in the class at this point, which made me feel more comfortable with them. "So I guess I'll take attendance now. Who was the kid who walked out?"

"Anthony," Someone said in the back of the room.

Once I got everyone's name down and accounted for everyone I thought that starting up a discussion topic would get things going a bit.

"So, can someone tell me what this diversity group is about?"

"Yeah, it's when Kat stands up at assembly and invites anyone that isn't white for pizza at lunch."

"That is so not true, Jackson!" The Kat turned around to face him, again.

"No? Then what is it?" He seemed to be getting heated up about the topic.

"We discuss how diversity could be increased and celebrated in our school community." She crossed her arms in victory.

"Without any white kids? There is nothing diverse about excluding a certain group of people just because they look different."

"That's the whole point of it, idiot!"

"Kat, please, language." I wanted heated discussions but not name calling. That was inappropriate and I didn't want feelings to get hurt.

"Right, sorry, Mr. Braunstein."

"But if you are excluding all the white students, how can your group be completely diverse?"

"I understand your point, Jackson. I will talk to Mrs. Chamberlain about it."

"The committee should be open to everyone, no matter what Mrs. C says!" Another student, Kaley I believe, chimed into the conversation. "She just supervises the group, she can't decide who gets to be in it or not. That's like a dictatorship!"

"This sounds a bit like Nazism to me." I had to speak at some point or else the students would just go on arguing. They needed to be debating, not fighting.

"Exactly!" Jackson jumped out of his seat and pointed at me. "Your diversity committee is like the Nazi's and your treated us white students like the Jews and gypsies."

"Not exactly what I was looking for, Jackson." The bell rung and class was dismissed. "See you all tomorrow!" And the room was empty. It was lunch time so I headed down the endless hallways to the cafeteria. I was greeted by a beautiful blonde women on my way.

"Hi, I'm Sarah Zwelberg, you must be Joshua?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"Never seen you before, and I heard we were getting an addition to the history department. What do you teach?"

"Debate class, how about you?"

"Studio art, art history and photography. There's only one debate class though. What do you do the rest of the day?"

"I haven't really figured that out yet." We both laughed. She sure is gorgeous, I thought. She ran her perfectly manicured fingers through her wavy golden hair.

"Well here's the cafeteria. I'll show you around a bit. Over to the right we have hot lunch, to the left we have the deli selection, straight ahead we have the salad bar and along the back wall we have drinks, snacks and condiments.


	2. Chapter 2

"Have you all read Dante's _Inferno_?" I asked the students the next day. I saw the majority of heads nod. "When I was in graduate school, my techer had us write our own _Divine Comedy_." I saw a few faces light up at this idea. "I figured since it's only my second day and you guys would officially hate me if I had you write a paper already, we could discuss it in class." The students seemed enlightened by this.

"Mrs. C would be in hell, for sure." Jackson was the first to respond.

"Yeah? Well, I would put Annie in heaven." The young man sitting next to Annie, Zach finally spoke again.

"How about Mr. Temple in limbo, because of all those essays about the Civil War we had to write?" A tall girl, Margaret suggested.

"And Ms. Zwelberg in heaven, she is bangin'!" Tom, sitting in the back, spoke up.

"Yeah! She sure is!" A few of the boy's in the class agreed.

"Mr. B, besides putting you in heaven, you should meet Ms. Zwelberg. You two would get along."

"Thank you, Sean, I already have."

"Well, you are both in heaven!" Sean shouted again.

"Jackson, you would be in limbo, 'cause I can't decide if I like you or not. As a person."

"Gee, thanks Tonya."

"Let's stick to teachers and people outside of the classroom, okay?" A few heads nodded. "Let's hear from you two in the back, Cassie and Jordan?"

"They don't talk." Zach remarked.

"Yeah, they are like on a vow of silence." Kaley turned around staring at Cassie. Cassie had long blonde hair with beads strung through it. She kind of reminded me of my first girlfriend, back in the sixties. Jordan had tinted sunglasses on and a leather beret.

"Well, what would get you too talking?"

"We need to end this war!" Jordan slammed his fist on the desk and crossed his arms. Cassie nodded in agreement. They were something out of a Vietnam protestors video.

"In Iraq?" Tom said, annoyed.

"Yeah, man." Cassie leaned forward in her chair.

"Okay, not quite what I was looking for. This sort of topic creates major problems in the classroom." I absolutely could not let them talk about Iraq. It was way too dangerous. "How about something like, um, religion. How religion affects your school and the world around you."

"Like how Zach is Jewish and everyone else is Christian?" Tom said ignorantly.

"Well, sort of. Not quite so harshly worded though. Zach, since Tom has pointed this out to us, why don't we examine it a little closer?"

"Fine with me." Zach turned around to glare at Tom. Something told me they did not get along.

"Do you feel any Anti-Semitism at school?"

"No, well, I mean, not really. Sometimes when people ask why we get off for holidays like Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur I kind of feel like they don't care unless its Christian."

"That's no true, Zach. I care!" Annie hugged him.

"I'm Jewish." Jordan still had his arms crossed. "Everyone at this school hates me, but that's not why."

"Oh yeah? Then why do we hate you?" I could start to tell Kat liked a little drama.

"Because me and Cas are different from all of you. We don't pop our collars or where expensive clothes. We don't listen to your music or drive nice cars. We don't shop where you shop and we don't look like you do."

"Jordan's right, you know. You guys treat us like we are inhuman just because of the way we look, act, and dress. I am just as smart as you, Annie. I am just as friendly as Margeret, just as outspoken as Kaley and just as 'hip' as Tonya. Just because I look the way I do, doesn't make me different."

"So this is kind of like that diversity conversation we had briefly, yesterday? Do you guys think you treat Jordan and Cassie different?"

"I don't think I do. I actually admire their individuality." Tonya smiled, seemingly sarcastically.

"Oh, that's bullshit, Tonya. You told me to my face that you hated everything about me just a few weeks ago."

"Not true!"

"I remember that, actually." Sean remembered.

"I like you guys. Really, Cassie. I have never had a reason to hve anything against either of you." Kaley smiled back at them.

"Thanks, Kaley." They both said.

"It's like how black people are treated sometimes." Kat reminded the class. The bell rang just as she finished and everyone packed up.

"We will continue this tomorrow, have a good lunch!"

As I left the classroom, I bumped into Sarah again. "Hey, there!" She smiled.

"Hi, how's it going?"

"Pretty good, second day of class a success?"

"Seems like it. They were all so engaged in the discussion."

"That's always a good thing in a debate class." She smiled up at me as we walked into the cafeteria. I noticed Kaley walking over to a table with Jordan and Cassie and pointing for them to sit down.

"Check it out." I pointed over to them.

"Wow! You did that? Jordan and Cassie never sit with anyone!" She seemed impressed with my work. I was beginning to like her, a lot. As a friend, of course.


End file.
